Pedal zither



Aug. 19, 1924. 1,505,514

' J wElSs E'EDAL 21mm iled Nov. 2'?, 1922 Patented Aug. 19, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JQHN XVEISS, F BROOKLYN, 'NEW YORK.

PEDAL Application filed November T0 all wiz-'0m t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN VVnrss, citizen of the United States, andresident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Pedal Zithers, of whichthe following is specification.

This invention relates to musical instruments, and the main object is toprovide a form of Zither which is played by he feet of an operator. Thismakes the instrument exceedingly adaptable with orchestras, as thedrummer can manipulate it with perfect ease.

Another Aobject is to provide an instrument which has a removablekeyboard, the latter being adapted to be telescoped into the body of theinstrument when not in use.

These and other objects will become apparent in the description below,in which characters of reference refer to like-named parts in thedrawing.

Referring briefly to the drawing, Figure 1 is a front elevational Viewof the instrument, the upper portion being broken away to expose thearrangement of the music wires.

Figure 2 is a sectional side elevational view of the same.

Figure 8 is a top plan view of the full and half tone damper bars indetail.

Figure 4; is an enlarged sectional elevational view similar to Figure 2showing the keyboard folded within the instrument.

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the keyboard, showing the hammersflattened preparatory to being telescoped into the casing or body of theinstrument.

Describing the drawing in detail, the numeral 1 indicates side walls ofan upright casing which has a front wall 2. The upper end of the casinghas a door panel 8 hinged thereto which when opened permits manipulationof the studs 4 to which one end of the music wires 5 are attached. Thelatter are raised above the sound board 6 by the blocks 7 which aremounted at the upper and lower ends of the said board, A chamber 8beneath the sound board is provided to give the proper resonance to thenotes played. Said chamber is entirely enclosed by the back 9 which iscomposed of laminated boards and has an opening 10 in the sound boardthru which the sound passes.

A pair of damper bars 11 and 12 are arranged one above the other, bothbeing slid- EITHER.

2'?, 1922. Serial No. 603,384.

able in the cross guides 18. The wires are arranged in groups whichprovide musical sound of the range of octaves. On the lower damper bar11 a plurality of pads let are mounted, each pad being adapted tocontact with the entire set of wires of its respective octave. The upperdamper bar 12 is similarly provided with pads 15 which are of suchlength as to contact with half the number of wires of each octave. Thisarrangement permits a full or half tone dampening of the wires. A block16 is rigidly mounted on each damper bar intermediate of its length fromwhich a stem 17 projects outwardly, the end of the latter beingsurmounted by a push button 18.

The key board consists of a removable casing built in the form of arectangular box, the side wall 19 being spaced apart so as to beslidable into the lower end of upright casing between the walls 1. Afront wall 2O and rear wall 21 are secured to the respective ends of thesides 19 and a board 22 partly covers the front part of the box. Therear edges of said cover has hinges 23 thereon to which a lifter bar 24;is attached. The latter is rotated about said hinges and is adapted todepress the keys 25 which are hinged to the front 20. Posts 26 projectupwardly from the base and have crank arms 28 rotatably mounted therein.The rear ends of the crank arms are connected to the keys 25 by thelevers 29. The opposite ends of the crank arms have resilient blades 30upon which semi-circular hammer heads 31 are mounted, said hammer headsbeing of suflicient length to strike an entire octave.

The cover board 22 has a plurality of bolts 32 upon which heads 33 areprovided. Said bolts are adapted to rest upon the keys 25 and urge thelatter downwardly when depressed.

Vhen using the instrument, it is assembled as shown in Figures 1 and 2.The keyboard is beneath the upright casing and extends forwardlytherefrom. The upper door 3 may be opened to permit a larger volume ofsound and also for manipulation of members 4. The instrument isgenerally used by a musician such as a drummer whose hands are occupiedwith other instruments, and is played by the feet. In depressing thebolts 82, the latter will urge the keys 25 downwardly. This actioncauses the levers 29 to rotate the crank arms 28 and swing the blades 30until the hammer heads 31 strike the music Wires 5. As pressure islifted from the bolts the hammers are returned to their normal positionof rest, by the springs 34. Dampening of the sound emitted isaccomplished as heretofore described. Then the instrument is made readyforearrying, the lifter bar 24: is rotated upwardly, permitting theblades 30 to lie parallel to the coverboard 23. The upright casing isinverted andthe entire keyboard is slipped into the casing and coveredby the double hinged doors 35 .which are secured in closed position bythe hinge hooks 36.

l claim A pedal Zither comprising, an upright casingthaving music wiresmounted therein, double hingeddoors on said casing When liftedprovidingan opening, a separate keyboard adapted to be inserted into the openinghaving a pluralityof keys therein,a post adjacent each key, acrank armfulcrumed in each post, a lever connecting said crank arm and key, aflexible blade on each crank arm, and hammer heads on the ends of theblades-to strike vthe music Wires When the bolts are depressed, springsadapted to rei turn the crank arms to normal position, a pair of damperbars slidable in front of the music Wires, pads on said bars, said padson one bar being adapted to dampen all the Wires andthe pads on theother bar being adapted to dampen half the wires, a stem on each of saidbars adapted to manipulate the damper bars, and means for inserting saidkeyboard into the casing.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of Ne7 York,this 17 day of November, A. D. 1922.

JOHN WEISS.

